The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head (to be referred to as an MR head) having a magnetoresistive effect element (to be referred to as an MR element hereinafter).
In a conventional MR head using an MR element, the distal end of an electrode for supplying a current to the MR element and a bias current conductor are exposed at a surface of the MR head which contacts a magnetic recording medium. Surface roughening occurs at a portion of the electrode which is located at the contact surface. This surface roughening is also effected in the vicinity of a magnetic substrate, a nonmagnetic insulating layer, the MR element, and a magnetic shield film. As a result, the conventional MR head cannot be effectively used in practice.